1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of rigid enclosures for printed circuit boards.
2. Prior Art
Prior enclosures of printed circuit boards (PCB) have unique and separate top and bottom portions and require the PCB to be mounted at a fixed location. A common name for such enclosures is card carriers. The PCBs that are used with these types of enclosures provide electrical connections through pin and socket connection systems or other similar means located on one end of the PCB. One end of the enclosure defines openings which allow for providing an electrical connection to the PCB.
The enclosure is often built after the PCB is designed. Enclosures designed after the PCB are usually custom built to the dimensions of the PCB. Early enclosure designs provided for a top portion of the enclosure to be of a different design than a bottom portion. However, more recent designs having the top and bottom portions identical are available and are motivated by a desire to reduce the manufacturing costs of the enclosure.
In prior enclosures, the enclosure design dictates that the PCB is positioned symmetrically inside the enclosure, i.e. it will lie in the middle of the enclosure rather than closer to the top or bottom portion. The ability to locate the PCB closer to the bottom enclosure allows the use of larger components on the PC board. Conversely, the inability to locate near the bottom of the enclosure places unnecessary constraints on the height of the components that may be used on the PCB or require that a custom enclosure be designed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a versatile PCB enclosure with identical top and bottom portions that allows asymmetrical positioning of PCBs in the enclosure, thus providing added flexibility in the design of PCBs.
PCB enclosures are used for products that have a wide variety of applications. For example, in the preferred embodiment the PCB enclosure can be used for a product that aids in monitoring the physical characteristics of an electrical circuit (i.e. an in-circuit debugger.) Another example is an external modulator/demodulator (modem) used for electrically connecting personal computer systems over telephone lines. Any product that uses electrical circuits and can be designed to operate on a single PCB may utilize a PCB enclosure.